Somehow managed to find the most perfect day in a while to go up and fish the cutthroat shores of Port Susan. Seriously, the wind was a gentle breeze, the sun shone bright, and I was able to take in the peaceful, rocky shores of the Puget sound with utmost tranquility.

Arrived at the beach at 6:15 AM to fish the outgoing tide for awhile. In addition to my 5wt fly outfit I also brought spinning gear in case my still-novice fly skills stood out to much. Starting on the fly, I starting slinging 60 foot casts into likely looking water, always on the move to cover as much beach as I could. Hampering my fly casting and effectiveness, however, was the ever-so common line tangles in my strip basket, so after several minutes of frustrating untangling, I switched to gear to regain my composure.

First cast, fizzzzz. A birdsnest the size of my arm spat itself off of my reel, and there was no quick and easy way to fix this one. I guess I'd deal with the line tangles and re-try the fly rod.

So not a great start, by any means. But I was determined to keep covering water and still maintain my optimism amongst my gear failiure. Sticking to the fly was the best decision I could have made.

Coming up on a rocky point, three hours into fishing. Crabs and flounder scurried around the shallows beside me, and the sun illuminated the clear waters of the sound a vivid green-blue. A cast was slung and landed perfectly on the water. There was no sign of any fish activity there at all, but I still decided to cover it.

Whap! A solid take on my fly line, and a most improper hookset followed. Damn my extensive gear fishing background. My line remained in the water, and I quickly recovered the slack. Two mores trips, and smack, there he was. This time, my hookset was dead on, and my rod buckled over and shook in triumph.

It felt big. I barely moved the fish for almost two minutes, letting him shake his heavy head and swim back and forth, giving him a little line here and there. Finally, his runs stopped, and I began bringing him in. he fought with a vengeance, dragging my 3x tippet along barnacle covered rocks and mussels, but I held on. Viscous head shakes and a broadside turn finally revealed the culprit behind the waves- a beautiful and quite large Dolly Varden, an old adversary of mine that I haven't had the pleasure of tangling with in several years. I managed to finally bring him in, its beautiful white and red spots illuminated by the early morning sun. The first good fish on a fly rod for me, and it couldn't have been a better one. I unhooked him, took a quick picture, and held him in the water to revive him after the fight. He needed little revival, and swept his powerful tail, propelling him back into the current. My goodness, what a beautiful and healthy fish. He weighed in the neighborhood of 3.5 pounds and was over 20 inches long. My favorite catch in two years of fishing (which is saying something!)

I didn't catch anything else, but it didn't matter. I was all smiles for the rest of the day and beyond. I did stop at Pacific Fly Fishers to seek advice on my line tangle issues, and I was given great advice as always. What a great day!

Tight lines!

---